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The Edmonton Eskimos are in the nation’s capital for the first time since July 21, 2005, to take on the Ottawa RedBlacks. But it will be the first time this season they are facing an opponent for the second time, following a 27-11 Eskimos victory back in Week 3, which was one of their league-leading three comeback victories this season. The Eskimos are 5-1 and haven’t lost on the road yet this season, while the RedBlacks are 1-5 and on a three-game losing streak.

1. GIMME A ‘D’

The 17.8 points the Eskimos are allowing per game is also second best, behind Calgary’s 15.7. But Edmonton is first when it comes to allowing 259 yards of net offence per game. Exactly 199 of those yards have come through the air, making their pass defence on pace to become the first one to finish under the 200-yard mark for the first time since the Calgary Stampeders averaged 198 back in 1981.

2. MOPPING UP

The Eskimos are slowly losing their grasp on the turnover ratio, falling to third place with a giveaway-takeaway differential of plus-5. The Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders are tied for first at plus-9. Edmonton has scored 56 points off of 18 takeaways (2nd) and surrendered 46 points off of 13 giveaways (tied 2nd).

“We’ve had a lot of missed opportunities, what we call MOPS, and we’ve had the ball hit our hands a few times and us see it fall to the ground,” Eskimos head coach Chris Jones said. “Anytime the opposing team makes the mistake of putting the ball in the defence’s hands, we’ve got to take advantage of it.”

The Eskimos have won the game whenever they’ve won turnover battle so far this year. Ottawa, meanwhile, has yet to fumble the ball away this year and is seventh overall with a minus-four ratio.

3. HEAD TO HEAD

In the QB battle, Edmonton’s Mike Reilly is now 2-1 whenever facing a Henry Burris-led team. Improving to 9-15 as a CFL starter, Reilly has yet to throw an interception in those three games. Burris, meanwhile, is making his 193rd career start with a record of 101-88-3, and needs just 92 passing yards to become the fourth player in CFL history to reach the 53,000 mark. The next player up the ladder is Danny McManus, at 53,255 yards. Burris is 4 touchdown passes behind Ron Lancaster’s career total of 333.

4. STARTING POINTS

The other two phases are beginning to catch up to Edmonton’s dominant defence, with the offence putting up 24.3 points per game, just half a point behind the league-leading Stampeders. They’ve been helped out with their return game earning them the best starting field position in the CFL, averaging from their 39 yard-line. Defensively, the Eskimos are contributing 2.9 points per game for a combined 27.2-point-per-game average, which is tops in the league.

5. KICK IT UP A NOTCH

Eskimos kicker Grant Shaw has been good on his last 10 field-goal attempts, matching a career-best streak of 10 in a row following last week’s win in Montreal where he went four-for-four. It matches the 10 straight he booted in the summer of 2012, after joining the Eskimos as part of the Ricky Ray trade that off-season. Of the 10 most recent kicks he’s made, eight have come from 30-yards-plus, making his average 31.7 yards per successful attempt. However, his last miss was against none other than the RedBlacks, in their first meeting of the season, which was from 23 yards out.

Eskimos look to maintain unbeaten road record as they prepare for first rematch of the season

The Edmonton Eskimos are in the nation’s capital for the first time since July 21, 2005, to take on the Ottawa RedBlacks. But it will be the first time this season they are facing an opponent for the second time, following a 27-11 Eskimos victory back in Week 3, which was one of their league-leading three comeback victories this season. The Eskimos are 5-1 and haven’t lost on the road yet this season, while the RedBlacks are 1-5 and on a three-game losing streak.

1. GIMME A ‘D’

The 17.8 points the Eskimos are allowing per game is also second best, behind Calgary’s 15.7. But Edmonton is first when it comes to allowing 259 yards of net offence per game. Exactly 199 of those yards have come through the air, making their pass defence on pace to become the first one to finish under the 200-yard mark for the first time since the Calgary Stampeders averaged 198 back in 1981.